Nostalgia, Loss and Creativity in South-East Europe: Political and Cultural Representations of the Past

Description

Where nostalgia was once dismissed a wistful dream of a never-never land, the academic focus has shifted to how pieces of the past are assembled as the elements in alternative political thinking as well as in artistic expression. The creative use of the past points to the complexities of the conceptualization of nostalgia, while entering areas where the humanities meet the art world and commerce. This collection of essays shows how this bond is politically and socially visible on different levels, from states to local communities, along with creative developments in art, literature and religious practice. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the book offers analyses from diverse theoretical perspectives, united by an interest in the political and cultural representations of the past in South-East Europe from a long-term perspective. By emphasising how the relationship between loss and creative inspiration are intertwined in cultural production and history writing, these essays cover themes across South-East Europe and provide an insight into how specific agents – intellectuals, politicians, artists – have represented the past and have looked towards the future. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Loss and Creativity: Affect and Effect. Political and Cultural Representations of the Past in South-East Europe (Catharina Raudvere)....Pages 1-9 Transforming a Totalitarian Edifice: Artistic and Ethnographic Engagements with the House of the People in Bucharest (Ger Duijzings)....Pages 11-36 Battles of Nostalgic Proportion: The Transformations of Islam-as-Historical-Force in Western Balkan Reconstitutions of the Past (Isa Blumi)....Pages 37-71 The Economy of Nostalgia: Communist Pathos Between Politics and Advertisement (Tanja Zimmermann)....Pages 73-85 ‘Everything Has Its Place in God’s Imaret’: Nostalgic Visions of Co-existence in Contemporary Greek Historical Fiction (Trine Stauning Willert)....Pages 87-124 “This Is a Country for You”: Yugonostalgia and Antinationalism in the Rock-Music Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Zlatko Jovanovic)....Pages 125-150 Domesticating Kemalism: Conflicting Muslim Narratives About Turkey in Interwar Yugoslavia (Fabio Giomi)....Pages 151-187 Writing for Survival: Letters of Sarajevo Jews Before Their Liquidation During World War II (Francine Friedman)....Pages 189-212 Enduring Bonds of Place: Personhood and the Loss of Home (Renée Hirschon)....Pages 213-236 Back Matter ....Pages 237-241